1. Field
Apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a field emission device, and more particularly, to a field emission device that may be used in a field emission display device, a field emission-type backlight, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Field emission devices (FEDs) emit light in such a way that electrons are emitted from an emitter formed on a cathode by a strong electric field formed around the emitter, and the emitted electrons are accelerated to collide with a phosphor layer formed on an anode.
FEDs may be used as display devices. In particular, a phosphor layer included in a FED is divided into pixel units and materials thereof are determined based on the pixel units so as to emit red, green, and blue lights respectively. In addition, FEDs control the emission of electrons from an emitter according to an image signal, thereby displaying images. Such FEDs may display color images with high resolution and high luminance even at minimum power consumption, and thus are expected to be display devices for the next generation.
In addition, FEDs may be used as backlights of non-emission-type display panels, such as liquid crystal panels. In general, cold cathode fluorescent lamps, which are linear light sources, and light emitting diodes, which are point light sources, have been used as light sources for backlights. However, such backlights generally have complicated structures, and the light sources are disposed at sides of the backlights, thereby consuming a large amount of power due to the reflection and transmission of light. In addition, when liquid crystal panels are manufactured in large sizes, it can be difficult to obtain uniform luminance. On the other hand, when field emission-type backlights are used as backlights, they operate at lower power consumption than backlights using cold cathode fluorescent lamps or light emitting diodes, and may also exhibit relatively uniform luminance even in a wide range of emission areas.